Favorite Theological Question # 2: “How Exactly Does That Help to Prove the Point?”

I’ve got a second favorite theological question:  “How exactly does that help to prove the point?”  It can be used in conjunction with the first favorite question I posted a couple of days ago (“how do you know that?”).   

For example: 

A trinitarian asserts:  God is a Trinity — not two persons, not four persons, but exactly three persons in one God.

I respond with Favorite Question # 1:  How do you know that? 

Trinitarian:  Because at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.[1] 

Me:  How exactly does that help to prove the point?  [Or, less politely, “so?”]

I’ve found that repeated application of these two questions can be useful in drilling down into various theological assertions.

Note:  [1] Either:

• Matthew is wrong and Jesus never actually said this; or
• he did say it, but his disciples forgot, or decided to disregard it; or
• the Book of Acts is wrong. 

That’s because Acts consistently records that, when the apostles and other disciples baptized in anyone’s name, it was always in the name of Jesus alone, not in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.